Page One Very Good 90 School Street, Glen Cove, 516-676-2800
Great atmosphere warmed by live music and friendly staff. Service: Informed, fast, attentive. Service: Informed, fast, attentive. Recommended dishes: Foie gras, portobello mushroom, spinach-Brie phyllo, coconut shrimp, crab cakes, field green salad, vegetable moufleta, wild mushroom ravioli, chicken breast, tuna, catfish, veal tenderloin, venison, sorbets, poached pear, banana tart, chocolate terrine.
Price range: Lunch, entrees $6 to $11. At dinner, appetizers $6 to $12; entrees $14 to $24.
Credit cards: All major cards. Hours: Lunch, Noon to 3 P.M. Tuesday through Sunday. Dinner, 5 to 10 P.M. Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday, till 11 P.M. Friday and Saturday.
Reservations: Recommended on weekends. Wheelchair accessibility: Two steps at entrance.
THE one-word headline on Page One should read, terrific. The lead story at this Glen Cove newcomer is the food. The surroundings are pleasant if somewhat cold, but they are warmed by live music and an attentive, friendly staff. The enthusiastic welcome at the door is provided by the owner, Gustav Hausser, whom diners may remember as the proprietor of the former Cafe Harlequin in Sea Cliff. Page One reunites Mr. Hausser and the chef from Cafe Harlequin, Michael Meyer. They are joined by a dining-room staff that is perky and attentive. Our personable server was quick, funny and informed. She knew the ingredients in all the dishes as a result of having tasted most of them. When we asked about the Page One symphony of vegetable salads she said, ''Don't order it.'' Later she diplomatically added, ''Everything on the menu is good, but that dish is not as popular as the other appetizers.''
She was right about everything being good. A plate of warm, assorted, homemade breads (sesame, herb and tomato-topped varieties) is a fine introduction.
The large field green salad, dotted with chunks of goat cheese, ringed with focaccia toasts and tossed in a honey-walnut vinaigrette, is a crowd pleaser. Diners who like salad should note that most appetizers are garnished with a clump of well-dressed greens. The grilled portobello mushroom, sliced and fanned on the plate, is escorted not only by the advertised slices of mozzarella and tomato but by a fluffy mound of greens as well. So, too, are the twin, lightly packed crab cakes. They also arrive with a spunky wild rice salsa, sparked by cilantro and red and green peppers, and a grainy-mustard Caribbean remoulade sauce.
Another hit was the trio of crisp, greaseless, butterflied jumbo shrimp in a crunchy coconut crust. They were flanked by a hill of marinated cucumbers sprinkled with black sesame seeds, and a handful of mesclun greens. Good, too, was the phyllo pastry filed with spinach and Brie in a rhubarb pesto mated with a bundle of brilliantly green asparagus.
Big spenders should try the caramelized onion tart topped with a medallion of foie gras in a brown sauce spiked with aged sherry vinegar and red currants($12). A similar dish starred as an appetizer special: a foie gras and artichoke bottom Napoleon with chestnut puree, onions and a lush sauce.
The least expensive entree on the menu ($14) was also our favorite. Called grilled vegetables moufleta, the creation is from the chef's homeland, Morocco. A puffy flat bread is filled with portobello mushrooms, asparagus, greens, carrots and corn in a barbecue-style sauce that tastes a lot like Chinese hoisin. The overstuffed sandwich is cut into big rounds and served with plate-mates of salad and wild rice salsa.
Running a close second was another low-priced main dish, wild mushroom ravioli ($16). The yummy, boskey-flavored pasta pockets are topped with slices of chicken and spears of asparagus and anointed with white truffle oil. Speaking of chicken, the sliced breast in a crisp onion crust with a sherry demi glace is another winner.
Fish also fares well due to the fact that servers ask diners how they want it cooked, and that is the way it comes out. Blackened catfish in a spicy Beijing rub topped with marinated hearts of palm, and tuna in a creamy tomato-corn salsa more than made the grade.
Five shrimp surrounding a centerpiece of black fettuccine in a delicate ginger-pumpkin beurre blanc was pleasing but skimpy. Better meat picks were the juicy medallions of veal tenderloin and an evening special of venison.
Desserts arrive on elaborately decorated plates. Most deliver in the taste as well as the visual departments. The sole misfire was a dull crepe filled with vanilla ice cream. Sweets to watch for are the dense chocolate terrine, the banana tart with crunchy pistachio crust, the perfectly poached pear and the intensely flavored sorbets.
There are only 23 by the bottle and 5 by the glass wine choices here, but they offer admirable variety of price ($14 to $40) and nation (France, Italy, Germany, Chile and the United States). The addition of one or more Long Island wines would be appropriate.
Take note of the Errazuriz 1994 chardonnay reserve from Chile ($22), which has a balanced citrus flavor and a light French oak overlay. An off-the-list, soft, fruity, vibrant Joseph Drouhin Beaujolais Nouveau ($17) remains very drinkable now.
